Sunday Roundup

For detailed coverage of yesterday's Leadville 100 see "LEADVILLE".

Quote of the Day

"Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience."

News
It doesn't appear the one-legged Kenyan, Ibrahim Wafula, finished at Leadville, according to the official results. We haven't seen a word what happened to him. Landis will not take consolation in winning the Mens 30-year old class. Bruce Murray won the Men's 70-year-old class in 12:29:49, Dennis Kaiser the Men's 60-year old in 9:27:25, and Ann Gonzales the Female 40-year old in 9:09, just missing a belt buckle. Alison Watt, Female-50, was the last woman at 11:57, beating three younger guys who snuck in at 11:58.

Summit Daily has a good article on Leadville with lots of new reporting and quotes.

Wiens, 42, a Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member and former World Cup winner from Gunnison, had come within six seconds of Volk's record three years ago, so you could understand why he considered the mark within reach. However, to break it by such a wide margin required a little help, and he got it from last year's embattled Tour de France winner.

"Nothing's unbreakable," said Wiens, who stepped up his training when he learned Landis and Lance Armstrong (who later backed out) could be in the field. "It seemed pretty far-fetched, but it wouldn't have happened if Floyd wasn't behind me."

As in right behind him. For basically the entire race.

Landis suffered an ugly crash about 25 miles in that shredded his spandex shorts and left his hip, knee and elbow bloody for the rest of the day. But he responded with grit - and strategy, as he elected to mash on the flat sections to make up for Wiens' advantage on the steep, technical climbs.

"It worked out fine but at the end he just had more than me," Landis, 31, said of Wiens. "He's tough, man."

Landis' own post-crash fortitude didn't go unnoticed by his competition.

"He could've easily just pulled the plug but he rode tough," said Vail's Mike Kloser, another MTB Hall of Famer, who took third (7:10:24) in his first Leadville 100. "I think he wanted to make a statement that he's still got the legs in him."

The News Tribune runs yesterday's AP story with some additional pictures.

Yahoo has all the AP news pictures, and Yahoo Eurosport UK has a short review of yesterday's competition in Leadville.

The Chicago Sun Times' Carol Slezak wants to get out of the cesspool of "grand theft cheaters" in sports, and finds it hard to trust any great sports achievement now. One of the problems is that the athletes are treated with inconsistently both in their particular sporting event, and also by the fans who accept cheating behavior in some and not in others. She feels it a must that trust be rebuilt:

So what should we do? How about demanding that our pro leagues -- and, while we're at it, college sports programs, too -- get serious about reform? They would like us to think they already are, but we know better. If the leagues were serious about steroid reform, one positive test would result in an automatic lifetime ban, name stricken from the record book.

The Chicago Sun Times also asked where have all the sports heroes gone, and answers its' own question with a list of those who do good from local sports teams.

The CyclingNews notes that Cristian Moreni got a two year suspension for a positive control for testosterone discovered at this year's Tour de France.

IHT/Sam Abt goes over the Disco folding in a somewhat dispirited piece.

NWI Times talks with Mike Straubel, who runs a sports law clinic, and wrote a key article on anti-doping law.

"There's disagreement between some of the labs on how some of the results should read and what kind of threshold should be met before it constitutes a positive test, and as long as there is that kind of inconsistency I don't think criminal liability should be attached," Straubel said. "There has to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and right now that standard cannot be met."

The CyclingNews, in a later update, notes the demise of Disco and all that entails, and gives a review of the courageous Landis ride at Leadville yesterday while naturally mentioning the doping case and the length of time the results from the May USADA hearings are taking.

The Denver Post writes about Team Slipstream and the big name riders, such as Davis Millar, that they are singing. Millar's advice for cyclists who have tested positive for PEDs,such as Floyd Landis, is to be honest with yourself and tell the truth, it's not that bad. What if you are telling the truth already?

Blogs
This Just In, Bicyling's blog, reviews the excitement and drama of yesterday's Leadville 100 mountain bike race in which winner Dave Weins says having Floyd Landis as a competitor was inspiring and in some ways unpleasant:

Maybe it was Floyd Landis, the 2006 Tour de France winner battled climb for climb with Wiens to finish in second place less than two-minutes back. Maybe it was the fans, out in force. Or maybe it's that Dave Wiens, whose won the Hundred for the last four years, owns this race. Whatever it was, Wiens rode the course in a record 6 hours, 58 minutes, and 46 seconds, smashing the old record, which he set, by more than 6 minutes. "That was the hardest and the best mountain bike race of my life," said Wiens at the finish. "Mentally, physically, it was brutal. And having Floyd Landis behind you sucks."

Brad "the talent" Mullen did Leadville in 10:02, in good shape for his age group.

Floyd Landis raced and came in 2nd less than 2 minutes behind the winner. He passed me coming down the fire road from the 12,600 aid station at 10:22 am and finished over 3 hours faster than me. So, I finally got to race a Tour de France winner and got toasted by 3 hours in just 100 miles! How’s that for humble pie.

That's nuthin'. TBV has lost an hour on Landis going up the 9 miles of Palomar from the store. [The route is described here, by someone who ran into Gero, Arnie Baker's wife!]

Ultra Rob updates his picture post of yesterday with more great shots of Wiens and Landis

Spinnin' Wheel says Amber has nothing to worry about, but she is so in love with Floyd Landis right now after his impressive showing at Leadville yesterday.

PJ thinks that USADA must really be struggling with the Landis decision and and is trying desperately to save face. He gives us the unattributed quote below, and more black smoke.

Yana Ivey from Google was inspired by Floyd Landis' talk at her company in July to go out and find as many books about the Tour de France as she could. Her signed bike helmet is also pictured.

Lamepersonwantingattention rambles on about a lot of sports doping problems and works Floyd Landis into the mix.

Steve Lavey is sad and disillusioned by the demise of Disco and cycling in general.

Khabar Bike runs a short rehash of Leadville.

The Lunatic Fringe asks when "will these athletes ever stop cheating?" after having done so in his own research by calling Landis an "EPO fraud"

Branden McNamee did some casual MTB riding yesterday, and managed to miss the leaders finish at Leadville, nevertheless,

We settled in on the last hill after a dejected walk around the finish line in search of a cold beer. Good thing we came prepare. We then provided our services for the next 2.5 hours cheering on the finishers as they worked so hard on their last mile. It was a good time, and I would like to think our positive outlook on life and bikes provided inspiration for some to carry on up that hill and meet their goals at the bottom of the other side.

Yup, beer on a nice day will do that.

Those Responsible feel that Floyd Landis didn't suffer the lack of French podium girls yesterday in Leadville.

Cycling Fans Anonymous cribs the AP report from yesterday.

Finger Food revisits some of the weekend's sporting events, including yesterday's great ride by Floyd Landis in Leadville. Yes indeed Floyd is "one tough bitch". Thanks for the plug btw.

A Cycling Life says Floyd Landis was gettin' it done yesterday.

Time Blog has the top ten sports moments from the past year, "Floyd's fall" is no. 5.

Afric Pepperbird thinks that even Lance Armstrong has bailed on cycling.

Aurora Colorado blurbs the Denver Post story on yesterday's moral victory for Floyd Landis at Leadville.

Rant was impressed that Floyd Landis WAS trying hard enough yesterday to crash. Everyone racing against Floyd seemed pretty impressed too. Rant also speaks further about the demise of Disco.

Masterslacker seems to have had a pretty busy week running and walking, and even found the time to watch the end of the Leadville 100 yesterday seeing Dave Wiens come in first with a blood caked Floyd Landis taking second.

Glendora Mountain Road recaps yesterday's events at Leadville with colorful descriptions of what happened during the race itself and at the awards ceremony that evening. Floyd Landis skipped the awards, but was enthusiastically applauded when mentioned at them. Floyd did however return to the race finish line after getting cleaned up and signed autographs "incognito". Thanks so much to GMR for the great coverage of this year's Leadville 100.

YourRunning was inspired by bits of Positively False, and explains how he used it to will himself to an age group win in a running race. He also gives us a plug.

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LEADVILLE!

Landis and Dave Wiens chatting at the start of the 2007 Leadville 100. Wiens wins when Landis flats; both beat the old record. (photo: UltraRob)

LEADVILLE!

Phone reports say: Wiens breaks 7 hours in 6:58; Landis 2nd after a crash and flat, also breaks old record.

Rollout, Wiens immediately behind the left bumper, Landis just behind and right of him. (Photo: McCusker)

The official site has a timing/scoring page that is starting to get information.

Checking out the Raspberry early on. No scab yet! The bionic hip looks to have been tested as well as the knee. (Photo: McCusker)

At Pipeline pass going out, it's a group of five.

20 mile lead group (Photo: McCusker)

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	08:15:00/001:45:00
2	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	08:15:00/001:45:00
3	0795	Bryson Perry	M2	08:15:00/001:45:00
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	08:15:00/001:45:00
5	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	08:15:00/001:45:00

Wiens leads Max Taam (Photo: Ultra Rob)

At Columbine Mine, the turnaround, there's a group of three:

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	10:08:00/003:38:00
2	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	10:08:00/003:38:00
3	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	10:08:00/003:38:00
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	10:17:00/003:47:00
5	0004	Mike Hogan	M4	10:24:00/003:54:00
6	0016	Thomas Dooley	M4	10:24:00/003:54:00
7	0007	Ryan Hamilton	M3	10:25:00/003:55:00
8	1223	Thane Wright	M4	10:25:00/003:55:00
9	0002	Jake Rubelt	M3	10:26:00/003:56:00

Game face very on. (Photo: Ultra Rob)

At the Pipeline, the last station for a timecheck, it's down to Floyd and Dave:

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	11:25:00/004:55:00
2	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	11:25:00/004:55:00
3	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	11:30:00/005:00:00
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	11:38:00/005:08:00
5	0004	Mike Hogan	M4	11:46:00/005:16:00
6	0016	Thomas Dooley	M4	11:47:00/005:17:00
7	0007	Ryan Hamilton	M3	11:49:00/005:19:00
8	1223	Thane Wright	M4	11:49:00/005:19:00
9	0002	Jake Rubelt	M3	11:54:00/005:24:00

This is 5:00 faster than Wien's winning time last year to Pipeline two. Wiens is a four-time (in a row) Leadville winner - an old bio can be found in this MTB hall-of-fame nomination.

We got a phone call saying Landis went down after missing an obstacle because of sun, caught up to Wiens, then flatted and finished a couple of minutes behind, both breaking the old record. Great for Wiens, who was pressed hard, and a good outing for Landis, who was said to be pretty happy about it.

1	0001	Dave Wiens	M4	13:28:46/006:58:46
2	1220	Floyd Landis	M3	13:30:30/007:00:30
3	0569	Mike Kloser	M4	13:40:23/007:10:23
4	1218	Max Taam	M2	14:01:27/007:31:27
5	0002	Jake Rubelt	M3	14:04:51/007:34:51
6	1223	Thane Wright	M4	14:07:02/007:37:02
7	0004	Mike Hogan	M4	14:07:42/007:37:42
8	0007	Ryan Hamilton	M3	14:12:16/007:42:16

Landis rolls in 2nd. The scab is now good and formed.

The bike is a BMC, and looks to be a Fourstroke FS02 in polished aluminum, with a Fox suspension fork, disk brakes front and back. He said at one point he'd use a hard tail, but apparantly he's turned wimp. From one of Ultra Rob's pix, it's clear Landis has the full-suspension, and Wiens a hardtail. Landis has one bottle, Wiens two. That must have been the difference.

Fatty Dug crashed and abandoned. He is not worthy. He shows a picture of a section of Powerline/Pipeline with folks walking up, saying "it really is that steep".

Fatty says, "And they all have gears"
(Photo: Fatty)

Aside from training, another reason Landis may not have been answering his iPhone lately is that AT&T wireless had been down in Leadville, with a bunch of fumphering from the spokespeople. Supposedly now fixed.

Glendora Mtn Road is a good place to go, and UltraRob has great pictures from pre-start Leadville as well. Here's a pre-race sighting from GMR:

Pre-start. Looks chilly, but the kid is happy! (Photo: McCusker)

Startline report, and a 20 mile update has Landis in lead group of 5 at the 20 mile mark, sporting a bloody raspberry.

Ultra Rob a does a quick post-race report with some more great pictures.

AP story has quotes; see the Roundup; Velonews mixmasters AP.

5-Iron thinks that if Floyd can do so well at Leadville on a "bum hip" then he, 5-iron, should get off his duff and get going. Good plan. TBV has a 75 mile ride planned for Sunday, "flat" with only 5000' feet of climbing.

Biking Bis reports on Floyd Landis bloodied but second at Leadville today, and gives us a plug.

DrunkCyclist has a stand-in gives a quick-n-dirty report, waiting for the D-man to recover enough to take the keyboard himself.


GMR, it doesn't hurt to ask. We got credentialed for the hearing! Thanks for the reports and pix.

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Saturday Roundup

Leadville moved to a separate post.

News
While of limited interest to most here, a site that inspired TBV has announced the first probative ruling in the cases that it is following. Four years after the first shoe dropped in legal disputes over ownership of Linux, a US Federal Judge has ruled against SCO in favor of Novell, in a way that also helps IBM and Linux. Groklaw broke the news and provided the full ruling, and has been quoted in the other media, like Computerworld, and Wired.

We hope we don't run that long.

AP Report on Leadville has quotes. Seems like the crash was early, and catching Weins up after the flat was too much work. At least in public, Landis is saying Wiens would have won anyway, and vents a little frustration at the communication about the post-hearing decision making process:

“It’s been three months since the hearing and I haven’t heard a word — nothing at all,” Landis said. “If they’re going to do it right and they’re going to take their time, that’s fine, I don’t mind. I just don’t know what the time frame is. It would make it a lot more simple if they just said ’it’ll be next January.’ That’d be fine.”

later,

At least Landis has had some good news lately: his book is selling well.

Facing potential financial problems just a few months ago, Landis was able to pay attorney fees with advance money from the book and hasn’t yet started looking at life after racing. Of course, he’s still waiting for that decision that could change everything.

The Sentinel Online has a short report on Leadville.


The Gazette also reports on an injured Landis finishing second today at Leadville with Floyd happy to have had something to focus on other than his pending arbitration decision:

“This race was good because it was something to train for and I could focus on that,” Landis said. “I couldn’t completely forget about the other stuff, but at least was something to focus on.”

The NY Times reviews yesterday's announcement that Tailwind is getting out of cycling and could secure no new sponsor for the cycling team formerly known as US Postal and then Discovery Channel. The many recent doping scandals, including that which Floyd Landis is still embroiled in, were cited as contributing factors to the demise of Lance Armstrong's former team:

Armstrong agreed. “There are too many questions in the sport,” he said, citing, in addition to the doping scandals, the poor relationship that was evident last month between the company that organizes the Tour de France and the International Cycling Union, the sport’s governing body, which oversees competition but does not control most of the sport’s top events

The CyclingNews also provides a comprehensive report on yesterday's Disco announcement, and notes possible troubles for Astana.

VeloNews' Patrick O'Grady is starting to feel like an advance man for a criminal carnival rather than a cycling journalist, and even though he's been playing the piano in the whorehouse for years now he guesses that with things the way they are now instead of quitting he'll have to start playing a little louder.

Bicycling says "adios Discovery".

Blogs
Ungewiss is a harmless voyeur, and among other things, wishes he knew for sure whether or not Floyd Landis was guilty of doping to win the 2006 Tour de France.

Tammie is a youth worker whose very first "google alert" was Floyd Landis. She believes Floyd Landis is innocent and found real meaning for those who work with confused kids in the first few chapters of "Positively False".

Run to Win got married this week, but planned ahead for his blog on shoes and how to choose and maintain them. He provides links to the Landis case and states the obvious, the jury is still out.

Absolutely Alex's Adventures talks about cycling's uphill struggles and the demise of Discovery. He also notes that the Floyd Landis affair didn't exactly help.

Rant celebrates the first anniversary of his "epistles" on Floyd Landis and the current situation in cycling. He links his first rant ever. Happy Anniversary Rant, who'd have thought we'd all still be here today?

It Glitters likes "Positively False" but is not exactly a fan of Greg LeMond.

Cycling Under the Influence gives us a sidebar link as he launches his site, demonstrating the lack of work ethic that he admits explains his cat-4 pack fodder status.

Oaktown Girl discusses Bonds, mostly, but TBV gets dragged in late to the comments.

DaBearz rants about ESPN, and says of their coverage of Landis:

Floyd Landis, from the United States, which is purportedly a nation built on the philosophy that a man is innocent of a crime/wrongdoing until proven guilty, was essentially dealt the guilty verdict when ESPN covered his steroid scandal during the 2006 Tour de France. Of course, ESPN had someone in mind for the job to tout the guilt of Mr. Landis in the form of the ultimate ex-patriot, Greg Lemond, who for the past several years had been trying to start a forest fire in the hopes that his legacy would be revamped by destroying the reputation of Lance Armstrong. And what did ESPN, with Greg Lemond, use as their bait to catch the fish with? Why, of course, that very thing which is the current hemorrhoid in the side of all professional sports these days: steroids. And while Lemond and ESPN didn't manage to create much in the way of credible evidence to point the finger at Armstrong so he would have to give a major mea culpa to the American public, the two subverters of goodwill did destroy Floyd Landis' credibility. To this day, no one really knows whether Landis truly juiced himself due to some contradicting test results, but because all of these results were founded in France, the biggest backstabbers in the world, it's automatically assumed by the American public that ESPN is accurate and dependable.

Back in the Day
While looking around the site that had the 20 mile picture above, we came upon this shot of Landis doing some announcing at the Tour of California.

(Photo: McCusker)

The story goes that though without Official Credentials, wearing a suit gave access to many areas, including the announcing podium, as shown. We know from personal experience that carrying a clipboard, perhaps enhanced with a hardhat, also works for those purposes.

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Friday Roundup

News
The IHT reports Alberto Contador's statement to the press this morning, asserting his innocence of any doping offense and his intention to fight anyone who makes those allegations against him.

The CyclingNews writes about the Contador press conference, and adds the Discovery Channel team may disband since no new sponsor has been found.

LA Times says Disco is disbanding (thanks to Cam for the pointer). Bloomberg Germany also writes about the disbanding of Disco and works Floyd Landis into the story.

The Denver Post writes a short preview of the Leadville 100 which starts tomorrow at 6:30 AM Mountain Time.

The Colorado Springs Gazette in an op-ed piece, thinks that Lance Armstrong needs to "rescue" cycling due to incidents such as the Landis saga. The Brandon Sun Online writes of the speech Armstrong gave last night at the Broadmoor.

Pez/Edward Hood makes some proposals, including a review of testing procedures, "to render errors and consequent 'Landis' type affairs less likely."

VeloNews has letters about the demise of Discovery.


Blogs
Velogal carries the press release saying Discovery/Tailwind is giving up the search for a sponsor. It's vaguely worded, suggesting some parts of the organization will remain, but without a "venture back into cycling" for a while.

Phantom Reflections notes Bruyneel is retiring too.

Plus Rapide ran into Floyd Landis on the road in Colorado and asked for a picture, Floyd gladly agreed but asked for a favor first:

He gladly agreed and we chatted for a minute, shook his hand and then asked if I could get a picture of us together. Ironically that morning before I went to work I grabbed my Dopers Suck t shirt was still wearing it. Before he agreed to a photo he politely asked if I would take it off, or cover it. "I really, really hate to ask, but could you please do me a favor Colin? Could you maybe change or cover your shirt first, I totally agree with the message, it's just the guy who makes them" he said. Doper or not, you can not refuse a favor of someone so nice.

Floyd, Colin, and the offending shirt, covered up.

(The guy would be Brandon Dwight; you can look it up.)

Rant is up early this morning with comments and questions about Alberto Contador's statements to the press in Spain earlier today:

“I have passed all controls … surprise and scheduled, in my house and at competitions, during racing and when not, of blood and urine,” Contador said. “I find it impossible to understand the personal attacks against me, putting in doubt my honor as a sportsman, from people who don’t know me. … We have to make an effort to move forward in believing in cycling and in me.”

So the statement is a hybrid with Lance's traditional "I've passed every test..." and Ras's "Trust Me." It wasn't a press conference, and no questions were allowed.

Rant returns with a nod to Tailwind's tailspin.

HTML FIXIT.com went to the T-Mobile web site this AM and found something interesting, and asks what happened to Floyd Landis and why did we rarely hear his name mentioned in Tour coverage this year?

Potholes and Roadapples also takes note of the disbandment of Floyd Landis' former team, Postal when Floyd was there, then Discovery.

Stories from the front range asterisks about his Tour pick-'em scoring,

(* denoting that Floyd Landis' arbitration hearing could potentially take a win away from me. Isn't it great that over a year after a race you still don't know who legally won due to all the cheating? Ugh.)

More is Less, while calling Landis a "winner" in quotes, correctly says he "is still waiting on a ruling to see whether he’ll lose the title because of a positive test for steroids."

Scott is disappointed that there will probably not be a Lance vs Landis showdown tomorrow in Leadville. He also provides the route profile seen below. Floyd will have his work cut out for him-- as will everybody else.

Angry Fan still doesn't like Bonds, and others he considers cheats, including:

In cycling, Lance Armstrong - the poster boy for overcoming adversity - is constantly fighting allegations of doping, even into retirement. Some of the allegations coming from former teammates with nothing to gain by coming forward. I won't even go into Floyd Landis.

Glendora Mountain Road made an "Orange and Grey" sighting this afternoon during a historical tour of Leadville. We expect first person reports tomorrow GMR.

Eric's Blog kinda says it all.

EMail

Emailer PotBelge tells us about an Ironman winner who fought a charge and eventually won, who now has a book out:

Hello,

Just to let you know!

Have you ever heard of Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke, second at the 2003 Ironman Hawaii?

Rugter Beke had a EPO conviction overturned after nearly a year-long fight to prove his innocence, due to doubts over the accuracy of his EPO test.

WADA did everything they could to fight against him. They knew that if he proved the test was wrong, they'd have problems with everyone else. So they did everything they could. They knew that Beke was innocent but still they wanted to convict him, just to protect their own tests.

Yesterday he presented his book "Ik niet" ("not me") with all the details.

Beke is suing the World Anti-Doping Agency and two drug labs for $155,000. Damages are for both the material and moral damages the athlete suffered during his suspension.

Just to tell you there's hope for Floyd, even a brave little belgian stands up against WADA and fights for justice.

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Thursday Roundup

News
The VeloNews reports that a sponsor is actually staying in the sport of cycling, T-Mobile.

Bicycling recently did an interview with Floyd Landis as he prepares for the Leadville 100 on Saturday. Floyd comments on watching a bit of the 2007 Tour de France until all hell broke loose and he had to turn off his phone and "check out". He feels that no one handled the doping situation in the Tour this year well:

"Once that information is leaked, the damage is done," said Landis. "The bottom line is that the guys enforcing the rules make them up as they go along, so the cyclists and the public have no respect for them. You can't leak information on a test until the B-sample confirms it."

"It was a totally different experience watching it form the outside," said Floyd. "It wasn't handled well by the UCI, WADA, the Lab, the ASO. No one came out of that looking good. They seemed interested in airing all their problems with one another through the press, which I don't think is the way to do it."

He also is inevitably asked about his own hearing and why it's taking so long for a decision to come down:

"I'm still really hopeful about the outcome of the case," said Landis. "I don't know what is taking so long, but I'm glad they are studying the facts and looking at the science and trying to understand all of it."

CBS5 says that Google is working on a way for people mentioned in news stories to provide their own prominently featured comments and responses.

ABC12.com says that the athletes we support and are suspicious of at the same time deceive is, and we love them anyway. Sounds like a show theme for Dr. Phil.

The Amherst Bulletin establishes new sports awards for a new age, and Floyd Landis is the lucky recipient of one of them:

Fastest Tour de France by a Rider Enhanced by Testosterone, Blood Transfusions, or Other Performance Enhancers (not including sex, margaritas, or Jack Daniels.) - Floyd Landis, USA.

The IHT has breaking news, a sponsor actually stays in the sport of cycling.

Washington Post has no Landis, but some excellent observations about Barry Bonds.

ESPN/Forde equates Landis with Palmiero, putting words into his mouth saying has no idea how he tested positive.

Sacramento Bee snarkily writes:

Congratulations to Barry Bonds. He has broken Hank Aaron's home run record. An enormous weight has been lifted from his unusually large shoulders. His name will now stand forever in the record books, along with champions such as cyclist Floyd Landis and track star Marian Jones.

Blogs
The Guardian Unlimited Sports Blog says that American have a long history of loathing fallen sports heroes, and Floyd Landis among many others gets a mention.

Comment here by Michael passes a rumour that Lance will do Leadville.

Noogler in Paradise is putting an end to daily blogging unless something really interesting happens. He works for Google and got to see Floyd Landis there, but really has had it with the everyday "grind" that bloggers face, and blogging about meals is getting old.

Racejunkie is waiting to see exactly what Alberto Contador will say tomorrow in his announcement. RJ is also delighted that Floyd Landis did not "bail" on Leadville as some have done, and will still participate, but those arbitrators:

There Was No Joy in Leadville/Mighty Armstrong Has Bailed Out: but far better, Floyd Landis *will* be riding, and I must confess to mad jealousy of anyone who has the good luck and close proximity to see him back in action on a bike where he belongs. While we're at it, can the arbitrators please cough up a decision soon, so long as it excoriates the horrid incompetent lab monkeys and repugnant pitchfork-wielding leak-freaks at UCI and WADA and, if nothing better, at least let you off the hook on technical grounds? On the other hand, if they're just going to fry you anyway out of sheer embarrassment at having to admit the depth of this farce, they can wait. Either way, Allez Floyd!

Adam Wakefield of Activate is pissed that cheaters and dopers get all the headlines and attention while honest athlete are somewhat forgotten.

The Daily Spin gives us cycling headlines on Alberto Contador and Floyd Landis among others.

IcelandElf has stories of the strange and weird which of course must include a mention of Floyd Landis and how stupid he must think the American public is.

Vert provides today's "doper update".

Rant feels level heads have prevailed and wonders what Alberto will tell us tomorrow.

War on Drugs 1 wants hypnosis to replace PEDs in sports.

Nobodysmiling.com thinks that the main lesson we teach our children thorough sports at this time is how to cheat. I always thought the lesson was that officials can be arbitrary, wrong, and there's not much point arguing about it.

Integral Options thinks Landis has been stripped of his titles, and that drugs are the rule, not the exception in sports.

Garvey's Ghost thinks criticism of Bonds is racist, and that Landis has gotten a free pass.

It's the Blog defends Bonds, and kinda defends Landis.

Harry's Beef Trust equates Lab Error with theft, hallucination and other excuses.

It Glitters read Positively False and thinks Lance and Floyd can both be assholes.

GlendoraMtnRoad is in Leadville looking forward to Saturday.

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Wednesday Roundup

News
The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that while Lance Armstrong is now reportedly not racing on Saturday against Floyd Landis in the Leadville 100 the race co-founder Ken Chlouber says that if Lance shows up 10 seconds before the race's beginning he can start. The CyclingNews also blurbs the race.

The Arizona Daily Star says it's too early to really comprehend Barry Bonds' achievement last night, and then gives us the top ten most controversial sports moments in history with Floyd Landis logging in at lucky number seven.

At the IHT, Sam Abt reviews "From Lance to Landis", and thinks it is "left with a sprawl of guesswork and circumstantial evidence." and that, "It's compelling reading and it comes to naught."

Reuters/CNN report another Astana rider, Andrey Kashechkin, has tested positive for blood doping, suspended immediately.

Eurosport reports Astana management admitting naivete at the Tour.

Times (UK) reports Contador is making a statement in Spain on Friday, with Bruyneel. He won't be taking questions. Whether it will be a confession, obfuscation, Rassmusenian "trust me", "I'm doing the Vuelta" or "I have a new sunglasses sponsor" is unknown.

Blogs
Rant tells a tale of two investigations, targeting Contador and Rasmussen's dismissal.

Cycling Fans Anonymous thinks Landis will get a decision, sometime in the next two centuries.

The Simple Truth did the Colorado Cooper Triangle last weekend and had many adventures going to and from the event. She is sorry she missed seeing Floyd Landis, but is pretty sure he passed her.

Potholes and Roadapples repeats the confusion about Lance or no Lance at Leadville; Pinch Flat News as well.

EyeonBooks shares a month old audio interview done in Washington, DC with Floyd Landis about "Positively False".

MyWeblog should have mentally prepared for his bike test instead of trying to be a cocky Floyd Landis.

Sara Best posts a very nice piece about former Landis teammate Axel Merckx who is retiring from cycling.

Cyclocosm has established "CRAP" and decrees that Floyd Landis may only ride the Leadville 100 IF he uses the "praying Landis" position throughout the entire ride.

Jason Stamper has a solution-- ban all the bicyclists from the races, and have the guys on the motorcycles compete for the glory of the yellow helmet.

BloggingStocks thinks Barry Bond's record breaking baseball is worth exactly as much as Floyd Landis' pee cup.

Pirate Poetry is pissed at the positive attention Bonds seems to be getting. On hearing San Francisco mayor Newsome's intent to have a Barry Bonds day, il piratino snarks he should also declare a Floyd Landis day.

MJRyan gives us a link is contemplating rooting for Slipstream if the plug is pulled on Discovery.

Forums
At DPF, there's an interesting discussion of a UCI study about blood parameters, and a news analysis that puts together a narrative of what some think has been happening since about '96.

Full Post with Comments...

Tuesday Roundup

News
The Rocky Mountain News has the inspiring story of one of the participants in Saturday's Leadville 100 in which Floyd Landis will also ride. Details of the ride, along with the best vantage points are also provided.

PezCycling debates hydration during extreme physical activity, and uses Floyd Landis' Stage 17 victory in last year's Tour de France as an example.

Sportsnet.ca writes about yet another athlete using Howard Jacobs as legal representation in a doping case.


KWXT confirms that Lance Armstrong will NOT ride in the Leadville 100 against Floyd Landis on Saturday. Chris Carmichael, Armstrong's long time coach, will participate in the race.

Blogs
UltraRob not only notes that Floyd Landis has been seen on part of the Leadville 100 trail seriously training, but that he also plans to attend the race and check on his claim. Looks like Floyd wants to be sure he doesn't get beat by any girls again this time around.

BitchKittie may have found a new BFF, and she provides the application of one Sara Best to prove it. There is a small amount of Landis content.

Rant has some interesting thoughts on Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador on a quiet Tuesday.

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Monday Roundup

News
The Age quotes Cadel Evans as saying that despite what Werner Franke says about Alberto Contador's Tour de France "win", it's still innocent until proven guilty.

The Miami Herald writes of sports' influence on children and on society in general and that honesty in it is getting to be a rare commodity. Floyd Landis is given the benefit of the doubt at this time, but this year's Tour de France is cited as uninspiring:

Last year, Floyd Landis was eliminated in a doping scandal. He says he's innocent, and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, someone who wins the Tour de France while enduring hip arthritis is an inspiring story. Almost unbelievably so.

There were no inspiring stories this year, however. It seemed like the whole tour was being eliminated for doping. The race was ultimately won by one of the few riders left. I expected second place to go to a five-year-old on a Big Wheel. Provided he passed the urine test, anyway.

The Times Online worries that with all of the fervor to oust doping cheats from cycling, due process may have been lost and athletes are finding themselves judged guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. And even though WADA may soften some of its' rules in an upcoming conference, many feel that a harder line is actually needed. This may run against what is happening in some doping cases which may be subject to rules other than those established by WADA

But this harder line may fall foul of European law. A warning shot has been fired across the bows of those who prosecute doping cases by the European Court of Justice in a landmark ruling in the case of the little-known swimmer David Meca-Medina, where it was decided that anti-doping law should be subject to the rules of European Union competition law. Previously, it had appeared that sporting rules were not expected to follow the same rules as business. Meca-Medina may become as renowned as the Bosman ruling on football transfers.

Dick Pound, the outspoken Wada chief (ironically counsel for the disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson in 1988), has fuelled the fairness debate by publicly adjudging athletes guilty before their trials have taken place, most notably in the cases of Floyd Landis and the sprinter Justin Gatlin.

The piece goes on to note that since Michael Hiltzik of the LA Times started questioning procedures at various testing labs WADA has found itself under unprecedented scrutiny:

Worryingly for Wada, investigative journalists are beginning sink their teeth into the perceived imbalances in the process. Michael Hiltzik, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Los Angeles Times, has published an in-depth expose on conflicts of interest, harsh treatment and faulty science.

Blogs
BikingBis notes one of the blog reports on Floyd Landis at the Copper Triangle bike ride Saturday at the Tennessee Pass rest area. He also comments on the confusion over Lance Armstrong's participation at Leadville, VeloNews seemed certain that Lance would not be there after all, but an old report that LA will be in for the showdown keeps turning up.

The Couch Potato prints tonight's talk show TV schedule, with 2 dates (?), so that in case you missed Floyd Landis on with Carson Daly's Last Call here's your big chance to catch it, or see it again. Look in at Letterman while you're waiting for Floyd to see MuteMath.

PJ says that despite perhaps a golden opportunity for USADA to make a Landis arb announcement right now there is still only black smoke to report.

The Eclectic Eccentric feels the need to make a snappy comeback to "a fairly large, heavily tattooed, shaven man on a bicycle", and the best he can come up with is, ""F**K OFF, FLOYD LANDIS!!!"

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Sunday Roundup

News
NPR/WNYC On the Media interviews LA Times Michael Hiltzik for 7-1/2 minutes about the apocalyptic coverage of doping at this year's Tour (tip from an emailer). He thinks sports reporters are ill-tempered to cover of doping issues, who take all reports of positives as gospel. Is it doping McCarthyism? Well, they have a clear interest in maximizing the threat they are facing. On Landis, making the evidence public showed the lab work sloppy at best, and there is doubt it would ever have gotten to a jury if it was in American court. But there isn't yet a ruling...

The Philadelphia Inquirer, among many other papers, sees fit to note Phonak's firing of Floyd Landis one year ago today in its' "today in history" feature.

The Lowell Sun Online reports that in New England doping scandals have not hurt the grassroots cycling movement.

The Montreal Gazette will be sad to see outspoken drug cheat crusader Dick Pound go as chairman of WADA:

Here are two of his all-time zingers. C.J. Hunter, an American shotputter, finally has to withdraw from the Sydney Olympics in 2000 after it is revealed he has failed four tests for steroids. He wails his innocence and engages Johnnie Cochrane, O. J. Simpson's lawyer.

Pound retorts: "Athletes always say, 'It can't be possible,' followed by, 'There must be a mistake in the sample,' followed by, 'I must have got it from the toilet seat,' followed by, 'Here's a writ for $12 million from my lawyer.' It's a classic profile."

Another, from last year's Tour de France, when the apparent winner, Floyd Landis, turned out to have a testosterone level that was off the charts. "You'd think he'd be violating every virgin within 100 miles. How does he even get on his bicycle?"

AP via Yahoo reports Colombian Libardo Nino as having tested positive for EPO at the Pan-Am games, where he got silver in the time trial. He's a 3 time winner of the Tour of Colombia, now in progress where he sits ninth in the GC.

He said he was prepared to immediately submit to a blood test. His team's trainer said officials in Brazil with the Pan American Games, which ended last week, were being asked to put the questioned sample to a second, independent lab test.

As we know, the WADA rules do not permit testing by an independent lab.

Blogs
From the Copper Triangle, we have reports...

Why Howard Laughed (probably not Jacobs), has pictures with members of Club Hypoxia and Landis.

Healthy Altitudes insists they finished ahead of Landis. Never mind the different start times.

Derec was behind Landis the whole day and never saw him, but gives a good description of the route and ride. Looks like a nice day's workout.


Chain Driven Ride wants to "tag" Floyd and Ned, but doesn't think they'll play.

Rant looks back to last year at this time when information about the the "B" Landis sample became known. A lack of real science reporting on the issue at that time is noted, along with the diminishing attention paid to the case by all by the truly hardy. Rant feels that with the amount of time being taken by the Landis arbitration panel a couple of conclusion might be drawn

TOTT in an entry largely devoted to baseball and Barry Bonds, does explain a host of PEDs and what they are supposed to do for an athlete.

The Burton Review is catching up, and liked "Positively False" for many reasons. But waiting in the LONG line at the Lancaster book signing in June for Floyd's autograph was another thing.

The Real Estate Journal draws an analogy between the current mortgage market and the pro peloton and cycling.

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Saturday Roundup

The New Zealand Herald's Phil Taylor writes of trying to get cycling clean and the challenges that entails with UCI leadership like Pat McQuaid's:

We trust McQuaid's judgment has matured from when, as a racing cyclist, he went to South Africa under a false name and in breach of the anti-apartheid boycott. McQuaid has said he doesn't regret it - despite it resulting in him being banned from the 1976 Olympics - as he got to see the situation in that country the republic for himself and benefited from an extra two months of racing. It sounds like expediency and expediency has helped cycling into the mire.

The CyclingNews, in a piece with no Landis content,writes that Dick Pound has asked Werner Franke to submit any information he might have on Alberto Contador and possible doping:

WADA President Dick Pound has asked German antidoping crusader Werner Franke to send him the documents which are said to show that Alberto Contador was a client of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Franke has sent the papers, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, and even added the protocol of Jörg Jaksche's interrogation by German investigators. Jaksche is noted as "JJ" in Fuentes' list, right next to the officially unidentified "AC."

The VeloNews' Friday Mailbag brings up the provocative question of doping in sports reflecting society, and the hypocrisies within:

Dear Velo,
We put athletes on a pedestal and when they are busted for doing, we burn them at the stake. Aren't we the ones who buy pills to enhance our sex lives? Don't many of us buy pills to help us get a better night's sleep, so we can be more alert and on top of our game? Don't most of us down coffee and energy drinks so that we can get the lift we need to get us through the day?

So why should the athletes be any different? Where do we draw the line with performance enhancing? When we stop investing so much money in our pros and what we expect from them, then maybe the doping problems will fade away. Until then it's here to stay.

Excuse me now why I go get my 24oz monster drink.
Brian Carvalho
San Diego, California

The VeloNews also notes that Lance Armstrong will NOT be competing in next week's Leadville 100 due to scheduling conflicts. Looks like Lance noticed all the training Floyd Landis has been doing and thought better of it.

Ottawa Sun's "Letter of the Day" seems to think cycling's troubles began with Landis:

The 2007 Tour de France was plagued by drug cheaters and allegations of failed drug tests. It's been losing credibility since 2006 winner Floyd Landis tested positive.

Press Democrat Columnist writes of a previous high profile resident of Murietta -- Barry Bonds, who wintered there for four years.

Blogs
Rant writes about the right and wrong kind of creativity that can affect the outcomes of drug testing from various WADA labs. He also cites the above NZ Herald article.

Chuck the Cyclist writes that pro cycling will survive despite everything.

Beegcellent Baseball writes Bud Selig and tells him to take a page from cycling's book on catching drug cheats.

Racejunkie givers us a tour through 80s music as themes for comment on many current cycling stories.

Pommi explores the differences in doping offense sentences between baseball and cycling. Guess which one has the harsher penalties?

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Friday Roundup

News
CyclingNews Letters this week finds two in support of Floyd Landis on the basis of the LNDD being unable to perform the doping tests correctly, not to mention the lack of due process in the Landis case as well as others. One by Bill Kinkead titled, "WADA Vigilantes"cites a statement by Dr. Christiane Ayotte from the Montreal WADA lab as saying the labs need to be creative as the rich athletes and their lawyers are.

Vail Daily News says Landis is turning up for tomorrow's Copper Triangle ride, a fundraiser with Davis Phinney. Sounds like he's been in Colorado for a while putting in some miles at altitude in preparation for Leadville.

Leadville Herald talks about "Boom Days", which precede the arrival of Landis and Lance the next weekend.

CyclingNews reports Eddy Merckx saying he thinks 3/4 of the peloton is clean -- meaning he thinks 25% are doping. He'd go easy on Petacchi for an extra puff, but put the hammer on blood dopers because of the health risk. He's drawn back to his own case:

Merckx was himself at the centre of controversy when he was forced to leave the 1969 Giro d'Italia based on a doping-related incident, however, he always maintained he was a victim of an error or a conspiracy. "It was based on a medicine that was not forbidden. They never did a counter-analysis. The stage in question was insignificant. Further, the private analysis, done right after the positive result, came out negative. ... Everyone is able to make a mistake, even the judicial authority."

Transition Times presents a Q&A with Shonny Vanlandingham who beat Floyd Landis by three minutes in the Teva Mountain Games earlier this year.

ESPN Page 2 slipped one past us Wednesday as Jim Caple rode through Landis country recently and visited Floyd's parents pictured below:

I arrived at their house completely unannounced, but the two welcomed me warmly. Arlene blended me a milk shake, and as the evening sky darkened, we sat around a backyard table with fireflies flashing around us and crickets chirping in the background.

"It was a year ago, and people are still sending us letters," Arlene said as Paul spread out letters of support from as far away as the Netherlands and France. "Every day, we get a letter from someone telling us that they're praying for us."

Several citations have picked up the conclusion:

I asked whether they wished Floyd had gone into something other than cycling.

They were silent for a moment. Then Arlene said, "All this proves to me is that worldly fame is worthless."

Washington Post reports on Justin Gatlin's USADA hearing, which has completed behind closed doors. He apparently wore a wire to assist investigation of BALCO, and the Feds testified for him. He's arguing he got sabotaged, and his previous offense shouldn't be counted for purposes of sanction. He's trying to become eligable for the Beijing Olympics.

China Sport gave us the link to the above.

Washington City Paper calls out the Post's Sally Jenkins for being righteous about Bonds, but not saying anything similar about Armstrong. He brings up Landis, but doesn't know that Jenkins turned on him over The Call.

Blogs
The Science of Sport is shocked, shocked at Landis' attitude towards Barry Bonds.

Floyd Landis (“Positively False,” also on the left up there) was asked about Barry Bonds and what he thought of him breaking the record. Landis’ response was that during the years when Bonds was taking steroids, these drugs were not banned in Major League Baseball, and there was no testing policy. Therefore, shouldn’t we get off of Bonds’ back? Did he really do something against the rules? After all, he was not violating the rules of baseball as they were at that time.

This is a shocking response but probably illustrates the ambition of athletes like Bonds and Landis. For those athletes who possess such a will and desire to win, the ends justify the means. Although taking performance-enhancing drugs is morally and ethically wrong, and likely a health risk, providing it is not literally against the rules, then it must be ok to do it.

Bunch's Big Blog considers us an "FOB", thanks.

Michale Sampiano has been taking photographs, and one of them is of Floyd Landis at a book signing a while back.

Principal Pardoe's Blog mentions that since the Landis doping saga began over a year ago there has been a lot of controversy in cycling, that's an understatement.

ebooks.com notes the addition of "From Lance to Landis".

Elvis Kennedy has a podcast of the Q&A at the Wheaton IL book tour.

Talkin' Sports see his shrink and finds he is suffering from a case of "letdownitis" due to sports heroes with feet of clay.

Recovox News takes the unusual stance that Floyd Landis should have been allowed to take testosterone while training, then he could have eliminated the thyroid medicine he currently takes and the cortisone shots he needed for his necrotic hip.

Potholes and Roadapples posts excerpts from a letter to the editor of the Lancaster newspaper defending cycling and Floyd Landis in this time of upheaval.

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Thursday Roundup

News
The Summit Daily News' Marc Carlisle would boo louder for certain athletes, if he were on steroids. He feels many cycling and baseball fans are in denial.

The Nelson Mail says one thing is for sure: the Tour de France is a mess.

The Greeley Tribune posts an op-ed piece in claiming sports heroes are duds, and that includes Floyd Landis.

The Female Fan's water cooler chat asks if the Tour de France can ever regain its credibility.

New West Network has some reflection on Le Tour Part 2, and among other questions asked, wonders if the Landis arb announcement was held back:

Did they hold the Landis announcement? Exactly one year ago, yellow jersey winner Floyd Landis was busted for using synthetic testosterone but vehemently proclaimed his innocence. He has spent all his money on his defense, but his hearings finished up this spring before Le Tour started, but no announcement on the decision. Did the cycling establishment hold it until the race finished to avoid negative publicity during Le Tour? If the Landis news comes out shortly after the race concludes, well, you decide

CyclingNews has part II of an interview story with Anne Gripper of the UCI's anti doping program.

The Leadville Herald Democrat tells folks who don't like Boom Days to just wait awhile and they will be over, of course then things will get back to "normal" and Floyd will come to town.

Blogs
Rant is wondering what kind of genius Patrik Sinkewitz is, and also why Werner Franke is after Alberto Contador?

The Daily Spin includes a few interesting links to cycling stories.

The Drunken Cyclist says we can make all the jokes we want to about Floyd Landis, but what about the sacred baseball record about the be eclipsed by Barry Bonds?

PlayKilling asks if Floyd Landis was riding dirty?

The New Common Sense wonders WHY after all of the doubt cast upon it, the LNDD is still the lab the Tour de France used this year?

Racejunkie gives us a little "dopin' in the boys room" when he speaks of Astana and what the boys will now be doing with their time. He also lauds Floyd Landis for taking the very unPC stands of preaching due process in the Vinokourov case:

I must give points to Floyd Landis, taking on the universal disgust and guilt-assumption of the cycling world to defend the boy on due-process grounds, which are, to all appearances, by far the strongest and most legitimate grounds Vino has (that, and the same lab monkeys that couldn't keep the labels straight on Floyd's samples were the same idiots UCI is now trumpeting as experts in homologous blood doping.) Oh Floyd. Your lawyers or at least initial advisors may have screwed up from beginning to end--but look what a fine little litigator you've become--right on Landis

TdF Lanterne Rouge looks at the statistics of tests and thinks its a good bet to dope -- many more tests would be needed to be really effective statistically.

Trick Love Da Kids lauds his coach, Joe Papp, for having the nerve to testify in the Landis case. He says he got death threats, which we hadn't heard before. If true, that's pretty dumb.

Ruminations thinks things are a mess, and Landis should get off if only because of the bad process.

Beast 16:24 thinks that the NFL has gone "ghetto" and that if most people off the street were tested as Floyd Landis was after last year's Tour de France they would test positive like Floyd did. The blogger looks very much like he is related to Floyd by the way, who knew?

Talkin' Sports posts his "first" sports post of "firsts" and get a snark in on Floyd Landis for good measure.

Paul Baylay thinks that the iphone is the master of all opening lines, and refers to Floyd Landis in a less than positive way, BUT doesn't seem to know that Floyd actually owns an iphone himself.

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Wednesday Roundup

News
The CyclingNews has part 1 of an extensive interview with UCI anti doping manager Anne Gripper in which she comments on many subjects including the Tour de France this year, the various national anti doping federations and their powers, and the current split between the ASO and the UCI.

AZ Central.com wonders who's next for trouble, and one of the candidates is Alberto Contador who may have to turn over his yellow jersey faster that Floyd Landis did.

The IHT admonishes Patrik Sinkewitz for using testosterone gel when it can be so easily detected, and may not be of any real value:

Maybe, Pat, testosterone doesn't do anything for a rider. That's one of the arguments in the Landis defense. If true, the joke's on you. Maybe you should have taken Bromo-Seltzer instead for all the spark it would have provided.

The Evening Sun thinks that baseball could learn a lot from cycling.

The VeloNews comments that instead of being known as one of the most competitive Tours de France in history, this year's version will be remembered for the fallout from doping scandals, again. And, Lance Armstrong can no longer lay claim to the title"most tested athlete":

We know from court documents, for example, that Floyd Landis was tested 44 times in a five-year span from 2002-2006. USADA statistics indicate that nine of those tests were USADA testing. So, in numbers confirmed Landis becomes "the most tested athlete in the history of sports." If Vino' can back up his claim, then he takes the "honor." Armstrong had USADA write a letter confirming his 12 USADA tests as part of his defense in the SCA case, but he has a long way to go to back up his most tested claim because, as noted, the track athletes have a big head start on him in USADA testing and they get tested a lot throughout each year on the indoor and outdoor track circuit, plus French Open tennis champion Rafael Nadal, who was questioned by the media intensely because of rumored connections to Operation Puerto claimed to have been tested more than 20 times during 2006. At that clip it would only take the top tennis players five years to pass the magic 100 test mark.

VeloNews also gives us a history of Americans who have stood on the podium at the Tour de France for the past 10 years.

icWales.co.uk posts a story about Welshman Geraint Thomas , the youngest rider in this year's Tour de France, who thinks that drug cheats need to be kicked out of the sport for the good of all:

One stupid person taking a risk affects the whole of cycling, not just yourself,” said Thomas, the 2007 World Track Championship Team Pursuit gold medallist.“It’s about time people started to realise that. What I would like to see now is a massive investigation now to remove all the cheats. The sport doesn’t need them, nobody needs them. We are just better off without them around."

Bicycle Retailer says BMC has taken its bikes away from Astana and gone home.

Owner Andy Rihs probably isn't happy. He had some control of behavior at Phonak, but probably none at Astana, and it can't help the branding. Its not news that the old-boy network around the UCI doesn't like Andy, and some of the scrutiny on Phonak was from that -- and there was enough dirt in the corner that scrutiny found what it sought.

(FWIW, Landis is still riding BMC on the road and intending to at Leadville.)

The health of the sport can't be helped when well funded enthusiastic sponsors and teams are chased away because they don't want to play by the old rules, and by the political fighting that uses the production of scandal as weapons against other interests.

Who is looking out for the viability of the sport?

Nobody. Unenlightened self interest seems to be ruling.

Blip.tv has video of Landis' book tour appearance in Pasadena.

Blogs
WCSN/Greg Ruckman has a must-read piece, including snips about the hearing, which he watched with a keen and illuminating eye:

USADA and Floyd had top attorneys who seemed pretty good at containing evidence. (I predict that the testimony of most witnesses will not be found in training tapes for classes on IRMS.) It wasn’t until the seventh day of the trial that the personality and overwhelming knowledge of an expert witness was uncontainable. That was May 21, when Richard Young cross-examination of Dr. Meier-Augenstein. That interaction was, in my opinion, a situation where the weight of a man full of facts and understanding simply crushed an attorney’s attitude, semantics, and cherry-picked points.

By minute 60 of the session, I was surprised that Mr. Young kept opening up more of his own positions to the Dr.’s corrections, and then allowing him to be so thorough in his explanations. My guess is that Mr. Young knew the Doctor had done serious damage to USADA’s case, and was trying to undo it by catching him in a slip-up that might serve to taint what so far looked like rock solid scientific understanding and explanations. As the questioning continued through minutes 65, 75, 85, I felt like I was watching a great break away in a long cycling race…

At minute 97, Mr. Young gave up the chase, and I had been convinced that USADA’s case should not have been brought against Floyd. Who knows if he used testosterone, but the testing relied upon by USADA in this case sure can’t help anyone now.

I can’t blame the attorneys from HRO for the situation. They have been hired by WADA, USOC and some dozen of the USOC Olympic sports governing bodies to go after athletes in different situations. It is their job to do so.

I believe the USADA v. Floyd Landis case has hurt sports and the anti-doping movement. The case cannot give confidence to the public that USADA is competent to make sports clean. Further, that case certainly can’t encourage athletes to think that if they use performance enhancing drugs then they will be caught, OR if the don’t use drugs, then they won’t be unfairly accused. That’s a very bad situation for everyone.

Rant read yesterday's San Diego Union Tribune article about Floyd Landis with interest giving us a taste of what might be happening in the smoke filled rooms of those in power. Later Rant goes over the part of the piece in which the LeMond/Landis controversy from last May's hearings is revisited and he speaks directly to LeMond after Greg's attorney is quoted as saying they wants to make Landis pay:

The best thing to do would be to show that you can rise above that phone call and show some forgiveness to a fellow human being, one who’s fallible and makes the occasional (extraordinarily big) mistake. Pick up the phone. Call Will. Tell him you forgive him for what he did, and move on. And forget about making someone pay. Because the truth of the matter is that the most likely person to pay is you. And the person receiving payment will be your lawyer. Sure, Landis will pay his attorney, too, but what does that prove or accomplish? In the end, nothing.
Deep down, Greg, somewhere in there you still have the heart of a champion. A true champion could forgive those who’ve hurt him. Show us that heart, Greg. Show us the heart of a champion.

Rumors and Rants says that he didn't forget you Floyd Landis, nor can he forget that now Alberto Contador may be under suspicion for doping as well.

The Bison Sports Guys have the "bottom half of the bracket" in which we have Barry Bonds going after the home run record against pro cycling where we have last year's Tour de France winner Floyd Landis and all of those eliminated from this year's Tour due to positive doping controls.

PJ is back from a break and there lots to talk about. He runs down how the various reports of doping from the Tour de France get out there to the public, and then gives us more "black smoke" as we wait not so patiently for an end to the longest 10 days in cycling history.

Passion2Ride who does know Landis a little from Power Camp, and would really like him to stop the "race to the bottom" with LeMond.

ArmchairGM wants to know what's up with cycling, and what ever happened to Floyd Landis?

The Boulder Report laments the utter idiocy of riders who think they can get away with doping, and also notes that the Floyd Landis defense posture that no one uses testosterone in cycling because is does no good has been put to bed by the admissions of Moreni and Sinkewitz.

CyclingLogue asks who should/can we trust to make the decisions in doping cases in cycling?

Get Outdoors has an alleged recent picture of Floyd Landis looking a bit porky. Might be Floyd, but what about that Lampre kit?

The RoadBike.com lists several good cycling podcasts.

Letter From America informs us that Gavin rode with Floyd Landis for a while on Sunday at the Colorado-Eagle River Ride. There is a link to some nice pictures of the lovely terrain, and the support crew.

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